List of Speakers

Danny KennedyManaging Director, CalCEF and President, CalCharge

Danny Kennedy is Managing Director of the California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF), an influential pioneer in clean energy investment, and President of CalCharge, a public-private consortium designed to drive breakthroughs in energy storage technology. Prior to CalCEF, Danny worked as a cofounder of Sungevity, Inc., the largest privately held solar company in the US that he moved to California to start in 2007. Sungevity, which he still advises, has grown to employ more than 1,000 people and serve tens of thousands of happy customers in four countries.

Kennedy is an internationally recognized opinion leader on climate and energy issues. He is the author of Rooftop Revolution: How Solar Power Can Save Our Economy - and the Planet - From Dirty Energy (2012), a book that has been described as the clean energy manifesto for the next greatest generation. PBS awarded him the “Innovator of the Year” for moving the planet forward in 2011; in 2013 Rolling Stone described him and Sungevity CEO Andrew Birch as “solar mavericks.”

Danny also co-founded SfunCube, the only incubator and accelerator solely focused on supporting solar entrepreneurs to succeed. Additionally, Danny serves on the board of VoteSolar, ecoAmerica, The Solar Foundation, in Washington DC, and several solar start-ups including Powerhive, a solar utility in Kenya, and Sunergise, a Fijian company taking solar as a service across the South Pacific. In 2010, Danny spearheaded Sungevity’s “Solar on the White House” campaign that resulted in a decision by the Obama administration to place solar panels on the First Family residence. The Administration honored this commitment in 2013.